2010-2011 Conference Reflections

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Submitted by Julie and Kate

Choice Literacy
Making Minilessons Meaningful
Presented by Franki Sibberson
  • www.frankisibberson.com for resources
  • article by Franki Sibberson Using Picture Books to Teach Theme in grades 3-6
  • article by Terry Thompson Are you Scaffolding or Rescuing?
  • Minilesson cycle - some thoughts..
    • Why do you teach it? How does it fit into the bigger picture?
    • What are the big goals I have for this study?
    • Which books might I use? Why? What types of things am I looking for in books for this cycle?
    • How will I provide for student to enter at their own level?
    • What will I be assessing? Does the assessment match the big picture goals?
  • article by Franki Sibberson Character Study in Grades 3-6

NCTE
Creating Opportunities for Learning with Newer Literacies and Technologies: Three Reports from Cyberspace
Presented by Troy Hicks, Bud Hunt, Sara Kajder
  • iPadio for oral histories http://www.ipadio.com/
  • podcasts
  • vlogs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_blogging
  • portfolios using Voicethread http://voicethread.com/
  • the idea of co-designing projects WITH students
  • Assessment of Learning, for learning AND as learning
  • do we assess to report out OR to report in (having kids use assessment data to learn about themselves)
  • idea of Proof of Concept - take time to figure something out - all learners (teacher as researchers)
  • Digital Is http://digitalis.nwp.org/
  • 21st century literacies aren't really 21st century anymore...they are just literacies..it is what we expect now

Elementary Get-Together
  • a conversation with Cris Tovani (she attended this session due to the editor of Stenhouse receiving an award during session) but it was very fun to sit at Cris' table and have a discussion with her

Erin Gruwell
Author of Freedom Writers
http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/site/c.kqIXL2PFJtH/b.2286935/k.AD6E/About_Erin_Gruwell.htm

Using Affinity Spaces to Open New Spaces in the English Classroomn

Learning Literate Lives: 21st Century Literacy Skills Beyond Individual Technologies
Presented by Devon Adams, Rochelle Rodrigo, Chad Sansing, Bill Kist
  • edmoto - like facebook for education http://www.edmodo.com/home
  • discussion about digital composition - students read something and then they create and give something back

Making Comprehension Instruction Developmentally Appropriate, Differentiated, and Self-Reflective
Presented by Laura Robb, Cheri Kesler, Sharon Taberski
  • rethinking our framework
    • comprehension as our big goal then subcategories under it...
      • accurate fluent reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency)
      • background knowledge
      • oral language and vocabulary
      • reading and writing connection
      • strategies (taught/used as and if needed)
    • Lessons from the Ground Up by Sharon Taberski http://www.heinemann.com/products/E03753.aspx (I think this is a must have as a resource)

Arnold Adoff
The Poet Talks and Reads

Solutions: Critical Questins, Helpful Answers, Literate Lives for All Learners
Presented by Linda Hoyt, Jane Olson, Kelly Davis, Dr. Mary Howard
  • featuring ideas from a new book to be released in September, 2011 - Reading Solutions (Heinemann)
  • Twelve Essential Guidelines for RTI support
    • Strengthen the frame - don't select a program, create a framework
    • Cut to the core - engage students in the process of learning
    • Seize the day - work through roadblocks (ex. schedule)
    • Pump up the volume - less kids in a group, more time, quality instruction
    • Learn to stretch - integrate across the curriculum
    • Sharpen the lens - remember all pieces
    • Unlock the chains - provide teachers with a literacy toolbox
    • Join forces - come together, collaborate
    • Raise the stakes - embedded staff development, coaching model
    • Use multiple sign posts - don't just dipstick kids, go deeper (running records, DRA, Benchmark, etc)
    • Put kids first - it is not what works for teachers, it is what is good for kids
    • The YOU factor - the teacher makes the difference
  • Gradual Release of Responsibility, Pearson & Gallagher, 1983

Effective Adolescent Literacy Instruction
Presented by Jim Burke, Jeffrey Wilhelm, Alan Sitomer

  • no more 5 paragraph essays
  • pick something that is real to students - something that matters - something that will make them a better adult - think about what will they remember in 10 years
  • use inquiry texts
  • think aloud, model, mental students individually
  • use short texts to teach something, then move to longer texts
  • whoever is doing the work is doing the learning
  • create situations where students are doing the work

Jim Burke http://www.englishcompanion.com/
Blog http://jimburke.typepad.com/
http://www.shmoop.com/teachers/teacher-panel.html

Jeffrey Wilhelm http://jeffreywilhelm.com/default.aspx

Alan Sitomer http://www.alanlawrencesitomer.com/

Middle Mosaic: Writers and Readers Together (focus on middle school learning)
Presented by Sara Kajder, Barry Lane, Linda Rief, Alan Sitomer

Link to some authors who write professional books for teachers http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/scholasticprofessional/authors/talkabouts.htm

  • what in teaching makes a difference?
  • we need to teach with a sense of urgency
  • ask essential questions - what are students going to learn that will make them better human beings?

Linda Rief
  • build rapport
  • head and heart matter
  • be the reader and writer our students expect us to be
  • know your kids

Barry Lane http://www.discover-writing.com/

Sara Kajder
  • instant polling
  • students have a large reading/writing landscape outside of our classrooms, web 2.0 spaces
  • slife http://www.slifeweb.com/

Lessons from Sara http://bringingtheoutsidein.com/
  • students have multiple literacies
    • book trailer vs. book talk
    • put students good work to work
    • digital identity, digital footprint
    • http://www.spezify.com/
    • teach students how to be smart about what they create for their digital identity
    • learn from and with your students
    • http://www.evernote.com/

Reading, Writing, and Editing Beside Them: How Modeling Deepens Student Thinking
Presented by Jeff Anderson, Kelly Gallagher, and Penny Kittle

  • explored Ralph Fletcher's idea of Sneeze - write 5-7 minutes, writing in front of students
  • read aloud to secondary students every day to show how words are supposed to go together
  • ask students to read a short piece of text, ask them to respond verbally and no matter what they say, ask them to explain how they know
  • create genre studies as much as possible
  • while students are creating we may not want to get caught up in "correct sentence structure", you may want to let them compose, something very neat could come out of it even if it isn't perfect structure and grammar
  • book Image Grammar http://www.amazon.com/Image-Grammar-Grammatical-Structures-Writing/dp/0867094664
  • Penny's Book Write Beside Them http://www.heinemann.com/products/E01097.aspx
  • students come in with ideas, we should give them mentor texts to show them what other authors think, then let students' visions come out on the page by letting them create (they can always use the mentor text for support if needed)
  • what we read shapes us, shapes our world and shapes our writing
  • writers are like syrup, sometimes they don't pour well (we get stuck in our writing)
  • mentor texts often give students great leads and information about grammar
  • This I Believe site with essays for students and teachers http://thisibelieve.org/
  • Mentor texts for students could include Readers Digest, Local Newspapers, Good Housekeeping (last piece usually is a one page article), transcripts, Writers Almanac with Garrison Keillor http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
  • most understood strategy and works - students use a mentor text, students watch teacher use a mentor text to support writing, student write using mentor text
  • revision= re (again) vision (see it)

Engagement: A Critical Component for Helping Struggling Readers and Writers
Presented by Kylene Beers, Robert Probst, Linda Rief

Other Resources:

Choice Literacy - CAFE:
Choice Literacy Workshop - CAFE.doc

NCTE - Donalyn Miller:
Donalyn Miller.doc